Immigration minister James Brokenshire pledges to crackdown on “rogue employers”

I am a reporter at City A.M. looking at the stories, people and data behind political events from the UK, Europe and further afield. I also write about infrastructure and transport, as well as broader issues around global business.

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James Nickerson

James Brokenshire plans to use "the full force of government machinery" to hit employers "from all angles" (Source: Getty)

Ministers are to ramp up their actions against illegal immigration by targeting “rogue employers” who give illegal migrants jobs.

The government is going to focus on employers in three sectors of the economy: construction, care and cleaning, immigration minister James Brokenshire told The Times. Suspected employers will be raided by enforcement teams as the government attempts to create a “hostile environment” for illegal immigration.

Brokenshire said:

Rogue employers who give jobs to illegal migrants are denying work to UK citizens and legal migrants, and helping drive down wages.

Experience tells us that employers who are prepared to cheat employment rules are also likely to breach health and safety rules and pay insufficient tax.

That's why our new approach will be to use the full force of government machinery to hit them from all angles and take away the unfair advantage enjoyed by those who employ illegal migrants.

So long as there are large numbers of pretty desperate migrants marauding around the area, there always will be a threat to the tunnel security. We’ve got to resolve this problem ultimately by being able to return those who are not entitled to claim asylum back to their countries of origin.

Now, that is not a sustainable situation because Europe can’t protect itself and preserve its standard of living and social infrastructure, if it has to absorb millions of migrants from Africa.